Mayawati’s 685 crore memorial to be inaugrated today

New Delhi: The Chief Minister of the most populas state and one of the BIMARU states of India, is to reach Noida by helicopter to inaugurate a 685 crore, memorial.The Rashtriya Dalit Smarak that is meant to honour Dalit icons has 24 well chiseled statues of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, her mentor Kanshi Ram and Dr BR Ambedkar.

Mayawati’s memorial park is built on a land that initially housed a public park. When work first began on Mayawati’s dream memorial in 2008, upset and infuriated Noida residents filed a PIl and moved even the Supreme Court.The Environment Ministry also found several environmental violations. Over 6000 trees were cut to make this project a reality. The memorial built near the Okhla Bird Sanctuary was feared to create environmental hazards and endanger many species.

In last December, the apex court however,cleared the project with a rider that not more than 25 percent of the total 84 acres could be paved, the rest would have to be planted with trees.

2,500 policemen have been stationed and a special helipad has been set up at the Apeejay School ground in Noida’s Film City for the CM’s helicopter to land and take off. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief will address a gathering of 40,000 party workers after cutting a ribbon to signify the opening of the memorial.

High-tech LED lights and fountains are in place and a special security force will permanently guard the memorial, which those who are watching Ms Mayawati’s politics say she sees as her gateway to Delhi and national politics.

Opposition parties have alleged that she has spent crores of rupees of public money for installing statues of her family members. “After statues of Dalit icons like Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram have been set up at several places, Mayawati is out to install statues of her parents,” Congress spokesman Subodh Srivastava said.